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WRITERS' Journal

Table of Contents
September/October 2011
Volume 32, Number 5

      .....Editor's Note

     The disposal of last year’s holiday tree topper inspired contributing photographer Sonja Kosler to snap the cover image. Thanks, Sonja!

     Christina Hamlett’s interview with Akers has several great hints for screenwriters, but I was particularly inspired by his definition of clean writing: “Good clean writing is if you take out one more word, the reader won’t understand what you’re trying to tell him. To clean up your writing, you have to go through it over and over with a red pen, reading it aloud, having other people read it aloud to you, until you can’t take anything out.” Wow, isn’t that the truth? That definition of concise writing is something all writers can learn from the interview.

     If you are an author who plans to visit a school to talk about your book or writing in general, you have to read Laura Stone’s article on page 14. A great service for authors who want to schedule a presentation at a school is www.schoolbookings.com. This service, created by Linda F. Radke, the president of Five Star Publications (www.fivestarpublications.com), helps connect authors and schools.

     In the “Marketing Your Unpublished Book” article on page 50, Sara Jackson shows how writers can create a buzz about their forthcoming book, using various tools. She briefly mentions e-mail marketing programs—a topic Angela Render covers more extensively on page 9.

     I wish writers would have others look over their manuscripts before submitting them. There are just too many obvious errors in article submissions and contest entries. Take your time when submitting. If an editor must choose between two similar articles or two competitive stories, but one is riddled with errors, which do you think gets the acceptance?

     We have come across story and poem contest entries previously published on the Internet. Publishing is publishing whether it be in print, on the Internet (even excerpts on a personal website), or part of an e-book. We must disqualify these stories because material on the Internet is published material and our guidelines stipulate that entries must be unpublished. It is obvious we can’t search for every author’s work, or even titles of works, on the Internet, so we trust entrants to be truthful.

     The winning entry of our Write to Win! Contest rose right to the top—whew, that makes for easy judging. I believe one judge categorized the story as winsome. Enjoy!

Leon Ogroske, editor

Columns

4       .....Marketing Helps, Janet Elaine Smith
         A Minor Matter

5       .....Massaging the Muse, Lynne Pisano
         Think Little

6       .....Effective Screenwriting, by Christina Hamlett
         An Interview with William M. Akers
         For every movie that has ever been made, there are 14,023 writers who think they can pen something better. All right, maybe I'm exaggerating about that number, but I've done script coverage on more than enough that have made me want to respond with the exact phrase William M. Akers so aptly snagged for his latest book....

9       .....Computer Business, by Angela Render
         Holiday Correspondence
         Since the advent of e-mail, a strong list of devoted fans has been the "golden egg" of many businesses. Social networking changed some of the dynamics of customer correspondence, but for Generation Xers and older, e-mail remains the strongest method of contacting your prospects....

12       .....Photography Techniques, by Ronald D. Kness
          Reflecting on Reflections
          Reflections have always been one of the theme topics I enjoy shooting. Because it is a theme topic, I try to look for reflections wherever and whenever I'm shooting....

60       .....For Beginners Only, by Suzanna E. Henshon
          Developing Your Own Writing Style
          "Wouldn't you like to be the magician behind Hogwarts?" I asked....

61       .....Words...Tools of Our Trade, by Betty Garton Ulrich
           Those Knotty Grammar/Punctuation Traps
           Alas, this subject is not new to this column. And I'm glad the overall theme of the column is so broad: WORDS. That leaves the playing field wide open. The topics that have to do with words are theoretically infinite in number. But certain aspects of this field seem to recur fairly often; that is, the grammar and the punctuation aspects of writing....

62       .....WRITERS' Journal Market Report, by Laurie Graziano
           November/December 2011 Market Report Plus: Jean Teller of GRIT Magazine

                   Markets: Grit, Tales of the Talisman, Texas Monthly, Fate Magazine, America, Milwaukee Magazine, Videomaker.

Feature Articles

14       .....Tips on Preparing for Educational Audiences, by Laura Stone
           Tips on Preparing for Educational Audiences
           Many children's authors believe that schools are good places to sell their books. After all, their target audience is grouped according to age or ability in one small area....

15       .....Making Your Fictional Settings Authentic, by Dennnis E. Hensley
           Fact-Checking Setting and Characterization
           Years ago, when Steven Spielberg's movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind was shown in Muncie, Indiana, the audiences howled with laughter throughout most of it. The local newspapers made fun of the movie for weeks. this was because the movie supposedly was taking place in Muncie, yet nothing—absolutely nothing—was accurate about the setting....

19       .....Crating Round Characters, by Beth Fowler
           How to Invent Dynamic Fictional People
           For many readers a novel not populated with engaging, believable characters isn't worth finishing. The author of a novel in progress can feel that same lack of motivation. If the main characters seem flat even to their creator, finishing the manuscript will be a grind....

21       .....Metonymy and Synecdoche, by Glenn G. Dahlem
           Sadly Overlooked Literary Devices
           Two related figures of speech, close cousins of metaphor and kenning, ofttimes fail to receive the usage they deserve. Because of that, many stories, articles, and poems don't deliver their full potential impact. The two underused figures are metonymy and synecdoche....

23       .....Laura Sepesi, by Greg Waxberg
           From a Dream to a Successful Novel
           The next time you have a vivid dream, don't just dismiss it as the product of an active imagination or subconscious; write down the details What did you see? Who was in the dream? Did anyone speak? Where did you go? How did the dream make you feel? These are all elements that could be developed into a story. Laura Sepesi knows, because, thanks to a dream, she has become a published novelist with her young adult fantasy, The Gaurdian of Kelmar: Book I of the Kelmar Trilogy (2009)....

41       .....Cezanne and Hemingway, Rembrandt and You, by Scot and Neil Macdonald
           Writing Lessons from a Dutch Master
           Writing and painting are kindred arts, sharing many of the same principles and at times cross-pollinating each other. Introduced to Cezanne's work by Gertrude Stein in Paris, Ernest Hemingway later said the painter had a major influence on him. Cezanne reduced objects to their basic forms, just as Hemingway worked to reduce his prose to its simplest form....

43       .....Writers' Notebook
          Tantalizing Trivia, by Mel Tharp
          Letter to the Editor of Tactless Raconteur, by R. Van Auden Hove

44      .....Write a Winning Essay, by Linda O'Connell
          Selling Your Personal Point of View
          Personal essay writing is akin to wearing a speedo or a bikini when you really want to be wrapped in a beach blanket. How much of yourself should you expose? It can feel very uncomfortable to expose too much of yourself to strangers.  Although my personal essays have been published in a dozen Chicken Soup for the Soul books and numerous anthologies and magazines, I still fear that I will be judged not only on the proficiency of my writing but also by the content of my story and the personal details of my life....

45      .....Planning to Earn, by Stephanie Crist
          Creating Your Writing Business Plan
          You know how to write. You know what markets you want to reach. You may have even started part-time before you quit your day job. What more do you need? Everything's going to be great!...

48      .....My Brilliant Career at the Yonkers Daily Times, by Willard Manus
          A Cub Reporter on a Mafia Newspaper
          I should have known right away that something was fishy when the guy interviewing me for a job at the Yonkers Daily Times abruptly asked, "What would you like to write?"

50       .....Marketing Your Unpublished Book, by Sara Jackson
           Putting the Cart before the Horse
           So you've made the plunge and have written your first novel or are in the process of putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard. Or maybe you are already a published author and working on your next book. Either way, you want to let future readers know about your book to create a buzz before it is even published....

Poetry

52       .....Every Day With Poetry, by Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
          Serious Wordplay
          It's hardly news that I collect words because nothing is more important to writers than language, especially language in the middle between Latinate-fancy like estivate or dumbed down to Dick-and-Jane-speak:...

56       .....Esther Comments On..., by Esther M. Leiper-Estabrooks
          The Winners, April 2011 Poetry Contest
          Each time I judge a competition, I maintain a mental desire to know instantly and intuitively when I encounter a winning entry. Don't I wish that were so, but the process isn't simple. How does one choose absolute best from top best? Does one select a sonnet over a haiku because the former is more complex—or could a haiku actually be deeper because its simplicity is profound? Repeated readings help to clarify evaluations. Great poems are not like Ivory soap; they don't automatically float to the top....